People in town are bitching about it saying we should suck another season in order to get Wiggins but the draft has not been kind to us in recent years and this is the first time a legit star free agent has even considered coming to Charlotte. The Zeller-Jefferson combo is an immediate upgrade to our front court and good solid building blocks going forward.

The contract is only 2 years with a 3rd year option which is nice seeing as AJ will be an expiring just when Kemba will want to get paid.

Another criticism is that we might just play ourselves into the 8th playoff spot, thus losing out on the lottery. I'm not worried if that happens because of Gordon's expiring contract. He can be traded for player(s) + draft picks.

This was posted on Rufusonfire. Pretty much sums up my feelings as well.

Quote:

My thoughts on the Jefferson signing
Cho’s plan was never to EXCLUSIVELY rebuild through the draft – we should have known that after the Lopez offer sheet last year.
Our goal is to be consistently competitive while maintaining flexibility. No horrible contracts is probably his only rule. It’s impossible to call this a horrible contract.
The contract, 3 years $41MM with a third year player option, was a coup. We got him for a higher price than market (which we all knew was going to be necessary), but we maintained flexibility going forward.
I don’t like one way players, but Jefferson’s strength fills a monster void on our team (obviously interior scoring).
We are still well positioned for the 2014 draft, which is all you can ask about any draft. If we give up our pick to Chicago this year, I’d be very surprised. Predicting regular season wins is pretty futile, I’m sure we will evaluate draft position during the third leg of the season, like all teams do. If it’s looking like we’ll wind up in CHARLOTTE DRAFT PICK HELL (aka picks 11 – 14, owed to Chicago, no playoffs)… then we WILL TANK. P.S. the definition of TANK is to purposefully lose games with the intent to improve draft position. Not pursuing free agents, picking prospects in the draft, or switching coaches are franchise long-term moves, not tanking.
After further review, there is evidence that Jefferson mentors younger players, HUGE bonus. We can get better AND build up our young players at the same time. This is Cho’s perfect scenario.
I have a fan-post pending that spells out our cap space over the next five years… when posted, you will see that each year going forward, we will be able to improve. Again that’s all you can ask. The 2014/15 team should compete.
Big Al will equate to more regular season wins, most likely at home, which will help increase the BUZZ.
Final thought – good signing. I would have rather gotten an average two way center (Robin Lopez for example) versus an exceptional one way center… but the two year guaranteed nature of this deal is impressive. Two year overpay and then if he opts in for year 3, at worst he is a great expiring contract. Well done Cho.

So Higgins reminded Walker that he and Jefferson share an agent, Jeff Schwartz, so it was now Walker’s job to start the sales pitch, months before Jefferson officially became a free agent July 1.

Walker went to work, scheduling a meal with Jefferson in New York City to express what a good fit this could be. The Bobcats followed up on that effort by immediately making a pitch at midnight the first day of free-agency. Jefferson flew in for a visit, expressed his desire to sign here and the deal was done.